A Long Time Coming
by Chez84
Summary: Hermione is running late. Ron is worried. What will happen when her goes to find her? Fluffy oneshot


A Long Time Coming

Hermione Granger sat at her desk in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic building. She was reading through the reports that her boss, Jacob Saxon, had left with her. She should have been home three hours ago. She sighed and picked up the last of the top secret reports that she had been asked to read for the important meeting first thing on Monday morning. Due to the nature of the reports, she was not permitted to take them out of the department, as was always the case with her job.

Hermione threw herself into her work at the Ministry with the same dedication and determination that she had her schoolwork beforehand. She was the fastest rising member of the Department of Mysteries in a thousand years, a fact that surprised no-one.

She turned to look at the clock for the umpteenth time since her secretary had popped her head into the office to tell Hermione that she was going home. She should have been at the Leaky Cauldron half an hour ago: she still had to Apparate home and change. She looked back at the report, telling herself that she would leave the office in fifteen minutes no matter what. That would give her time to go home, shower, change and get to the Leaky Cauldron within the hour. She just hoped that the others wouldn't panic when she was going to be an hour and a half later than she said she would be.

Since the destruction of all the Horcruxes and defeat of Lord Voldemort almost five years ago, the magical world was a safer place. However the "Golden Trio", as Harry, Ron and she had been dubbed by the 'Daily Prophet', were never truly safe. There were still Death Eaters out there, waiting for the chance to avenge their master or to prove their power by killing one of those that the Dark Lord could not.

Hermione turned her attention back to the document in front of her. Ten more minutes and she was leaving, finished or not.

&&&&&&&&&&

"…… Wouldn't you say so Ron? Ron? Earth to Ron? Ron? RONALD!"

Ron Weasley turned his attention to the wizard who sat across the table from him. He was in the Leaky Cauldron waiting for Harry to bring Ginny to her surprise birthday party, which he was sure she knew about. Ron tried to focus on the conversation he was supposed to be having. Dean Thomas had been going on about Merlin knew what for the past ten minutes. Ron had no idea how to respond to his former roommate.

"You haven't been listening to a word I've been saying, have you?" Dean asked.

"Yes I have!" Ron thought quickly. "You were telling me about how Lavender and Parvati were at the party last week and that you invited them along tonight, and did I mind because you know that Lavender and I don't really talk anymore but you want to try to ask her out."

"That was five minutes ago, mate." Dean looked closely at Ron. "What's with you anyway? You've been looking at the door for the past twenty minutes. Are you worried about what Potter and your sister are up to?"

"Well I wasn't…but now I am, so thanks very much mate. I really didn't need that mental image!"

"What is it then? You've been out of it for ages now. Come on mate. Spill."

Ron looked at the door again as he started to explain what was bothering him. "Hermione still isn't here. She said that she would be here at seven, and it's quarter to eight now. I know that work keeps her back sometimes, but it's not like her to be late for something as important as this. I mean, Ginny's one of her best friends and she wouldn't want to miss any of this. I'm just getting a bit worried."

"Mate, you need to relax. I bet Hermione has lost track of time over …… well whatever it is that she does holed up in that department. I'll bet that she'll come running through the doors any minute now telling us how she's so sorry that she's late again, like she always does, and how she promises to be on time next time, which she never is. I thought that you'd be used to this by now."

Ron dragged his eyes away from the door. "You're probably right. I just can't help but worry. There are so many people that would love to hurt her, you know?"

"You know what I never understood?" Dean didn't wait for an answer, "Why didn't the two of you ever get together? I mean, everyone thought that you would back at Hogwarts, I even had two Galleons on you being together by the end of sixth year. I've never really forgiven Lavender for messing that up." Dean could plainly tell that Ron had stopped paying attention yet again, so he went off in search of Lavender to see if she would make the loss of his galleons up to him.

Ron continued to stare at the door. He would give Hermione half an hour more and then, his sister's birthday or not, he would go to look for her. Ginny would understand, he was sure. He picked up his Firewhisky and headed over to talk to Neville Longbottom to try to keep his mind off the one person who was constantly in his thoughts.

&&&&&&&&&&

Hermione put the report down, picked up her wand, and banished the reports back to the file room. She picked up her bag and made for the lifts down the hall from her office. As she stepped into the lift, she checked her watch and cursed lightly. She was now over an hour late. Still, as long as she was quick in the shower and stuck to the outfit she had laid out this morning knowing that she would most likely be running late yet again, she should be at the party in no time.

Stepping out of the lift, she walked across the atrium toward the Apparation point near the main doors, calling out a cheery good bye to Jim, the security guard.

Hermione arrived in the front hall of her building and quickly ran up the stairs to her fifth floor flat. She made her way straight to the bathroom and turned on the shower, then returned to her bedroom to retrieve her bathrobe. She released her bushy hair from the knot that she kept it in while at work, stepped under the now warm shower, and let the balmy water wash away the stresses of her day.

She had been looking forward to tonight for the past few weeks. It had been a month or so since she last had a chance to see everyone from her Hogwarts days, and even then, it was only for a quick drink at the end of a long week at the office. She missed her friends from those days, in particular Harry, Ginny and Ron. Ron. She and Ron had an unusual relationship these days. At one point, at the end of sixth year it had looked as if they may have become something more than friends. But with the search for the Horcruxes and the final battle, they had devoted themselves to the fight to save the wizarding world, and once they had come out on the other side, things had changed.

Hermione had spent a long period of time in St. Mungo's after that final battle in the middle of the Hogwarts grounds. She had sustained some serious injuries in a battle with Dolohov: he had intended to finish what he had started in the Department of Mysteries in her fifth year. She had put up a good fight, and in the end managed to restrain him so that the Aurors could deal with him once the battle was done. Yet despite this eventual victory, Hermione had been hit with the Cruciatus Curse more times than she cared to remember, and the wound he had inflicted on her in her fifth year had reopened. She still carried a large scar from her left collarbone to her belly button. It was only a white line, and it was quite thin now, but it made her feel unattractive so she preformed a Glamour charm on herself whenever this scar could be visible. In fact no one but herself and the Healers in St. Mungo's had ever seen that scar, not even any of the boyfriends she'd had.

Hermione had dated several men since the end of the war. None had been very serious: she had never really let them become serious. She knew that Harry and Ron never trusted the men that she chose, and that made it hard to keep a relationship alive. Ron in particular liked to talk loudly to Harry about the faults of these men while she was within hearing distance. In all honestly, none of them had been the man she imagined spending the rest of her life with. She got the feeling from some that they were only with her because of her fame, and the others just weren't R… well, they just weren't right.

Having completely washed away the tiredness from her long week at the Ministry, she stepped out of her shower and into her bathrobe. Drying her hair lightly with a towel, she stepped into the hallway to make her way back to her bedroom, and walked straight into something solid that was not normally there.

&&&&&&&&&&

Ron had finally had enough. Hermione was over an hour late now, and he was starting to panic slightly. He had already tried to Floo her at home several times now, but had had no response from any of his attempts. He had tried not to worry, he really had, but he was rapidly starting to think the worst of her prolonged lateness. Yes, it was like Hermione to be late to events like this, but this was Ginny's birthday. Ron knew that it must be something serious to make her this late.

He made his decision. He drank the last mouthful of his Firewhisky and looked around the room for Dean. Spotting him in the corner locked in a clinch with Lavender, he decided to let someone else know where he was going. He spotted Neville at the bar and made his way over to him.

"Neville," Ron greeted his long time friend, "I've got a favour to ask of you, mate."

Neville grinned as he turned to Ron. "Let me guess, you're off to find Hermione because she's so late. She'll be on her way here, you know? She would never let Ginny down."

"I know, but she's really late now, and I just wanna make sure she's okay. I'm only gonna Apparate to the Ministry to check if she's there, and if she's not, check if she's at home getting ready or asleep or something. I won't be long. Just, if Gin and Harry get here before I'm back, let them know where I am?"

"You've got it. But don't be too long and don't panic if she's not at either place. She'll be fine, I'm sure. She's a big witch now, and a right scary one sometimes at that. She can take care of herself."

Ron made his way out of the Leaky Cauldron and Apparated to the foyer of the Ministry of Magic. He headed straight for the security desk.

"Hello Ron," Jim greeted him warmly. "What can I do for you then? Looking for your dad? He left a good couple of hours ago now."

"Nah, Jim. I know he's home. I was there when he got back. I was just wondering if you happened to know if Hermione Granger has left yet?"

"As it happens, I did see her leave. She was here working late again, as usual, but she left a good half an hour ago at least. There a problem, young Ron?"

Ron ran his hand through his hair nervously. "I'm not sure. I don't think so. She's just really late for Ginny's birthday party. I'll go and check her flat. If there's a problem, I'll let you know."

"Aye, you do that. She's a nice girl that Miss Granger. You let me know if she's gone walkabout."

Ron nodded at the old man and jogged back to the Apparation point. With a resounding crack, he found himself in the foyer of Hermione's building in Hogsmead. As he made his way up the stairs to her flat, he prayed to Merlin that she would be there, having lost track of the time yet again, or even curled up asleep as he had found her once before. He still remembered the fear he had felt when he found her after the final battle with Voldemort.

She had been covered in blood and barely conscious; he had rushed her straight to the hospital wing for medical attention with no thought for his own wounds. They had to physically force him to leave her to be checked over and healed himself, and as soon as he was done, he wanted to be at her side. It was only the fact that his mother had terrorized him into staying in bed until he was completely recovered, and the fact that Hermione was moved to St. Mungo's for her more severe wounds, that had managed to keep him away. Once he was completely healthy again, he was by her side morning, noon, and night. On occasions, they had actually had to physically remove him from the ward once visiting hours were over.

After Hermione was released from hospital, he spent a lot of time with her at her parent's house, keeping her up to date with all the events in the wizarding world. He helped her to move in to her new flat when she got her job at the Ministry, and they spent a lot of time together discussing his own career choices: she had been so proud of him when he was selected as the Keeper for the Chudley Cannons. They had spent the night out with Harry and Ginny, who were celebrating the fact that they were back together again. That was the last time that they had really had any time for each other.

Hermione was always busy with her work, whatever that was, and he was always in training. Plus they both dated. Well…he didn't date so much as take girls out once and never call them. They were never right. None of them had the knack of grabbing his attention the way that Herm…well, the way that some people did.

He missed the time that Hermione and he spent together when they were at school. They only seemed to see each other if they were part of a large group these days, and he wished that they still had their little private chats, like they used to while they were on the hunt for Horcruxes and Harry was asleep.

Ron arrived at Hermione's front door and stopped in his tracks. He didn't want appear as if he was being overprotective by checking up on her. He looked at his watch one more time. She was now nearly an hour and a half late. Ron sighed to himself and muttered the incantation that would open her door. As he stepped in, he had the sense that she was there. He let go of the breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding. Moving further into her flat, he noted the fact that there was water running, when suddenly it stopped. The next thing he knew, Hermione came barrelling out of her bathroom straight into his chest.

&&&&&&&&&&

Stifling a scream, Hermione looked up into a pair of highly familiar deep blue eyes. Very quickly the fear that was rising up in her throat turned into anger towards the red head in front of her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Hermione felt her heart starting to beat again. "You scared the life out of me! You could have been anyone! How did I know that you weren't someone who was going to hurt me? You are such an idiot sometimes!"

Finally, Ron managed to find his voice. "Well, what did you expect? You were meant to be at the Leaky Cauldron an hour and a half ago! What was I supposed to think? I just came by to see if you were okay…I was worried. And don't yell at me! It's not my fault that you can never get anywhere on time these days. You spend your life at the Ministry, and then expect us just to assume you're okay when you don't turn up at events that you promised to be at? You know how many people would like to hurt us- to hurt you- and you want me to sit around waiting for you in a pub when I have no idea where you are? You know that it bothers me! This isn't the first time that I've run around looking for you!"

"I've never asked you too! I do not need a babysitter, Ronald. And what's more, what do you think gives you the right just to barge into my home uninvited? How did you know that I didn't have someone here with me? Or that I wasn't walking around naked?" She stopped at this, realising that this wasn't far from the truth. She pulled her dressing gown closer around herself and took a calming breath. "Do you mind if we continue this conversation after I've dressed? Or are you worried that someone may be lurking in my wardrobe waiting to pounce?"

With that, Hermione turned with a huff to make her way into her bedroom but Ron grasped her wrist to stop her from walking away. She turned back to face him ready to start yelling again but the way he was looking at her stopped all words from forming.

"Is that the way you really feel?" Ron practically whispered to her. His face had gone pale as all the anger had drained from him and his eyes looked hurt and wounded. If she didn't know better, Hermione would think that her words were physically causing him pain. "You clearly don't want me here, but before I go I need to know if that's how you really feel."

Hermione found that she couldn't read Ron the way she normally could. She could always tell what he was thinking by just looking at his face. She didn't know what to do or what to say to this Ron: she was more scared by the way he was acting than she had been before at the thought of someone in her home.

"Look, I'll go and get dressed and then we'll talk, okay?" She loosened her grip on her robe and reached out her hand to touch his own. "Just go and sit down in the living room and I'll be righ…"

"What's that?" Ron suddenly interrupted

"What is what?"

"That!"

Hermione followed his eye line and spotted what he was looking at. Her scar. She hadn't bothered to reapply the Glamour Charm that normally covered it when she got out of the shower, as the outfit she had picked out for the evening covered her chest. She quickly pulled the towelling robe back over her chest.

"No, don't do that." Ron moved towards her and moved her hand once again, making the top part of her scar visible. "What is that, Hermione?"

"It's nothing."

"It is something, I just don't know what!"

"It doesn't matter. Please just leave Ron." Hermione made another attempt to cover the offending patch of skin, but Ron stopped her.

"It clearly does matter to you or you wouldn't be getting in a state."

"I am not getting in a state!"

"Yes you are. Just tell me what the hell it is!"

Hermione had finally had enough. "It's a scar, okay! A scar. Are you happy now?"

Ron wasn't sure what to say for a few moments. Both he and Hermione took some calming breaths while waiting for the other to say something.

Hermione took a deep breath as she realised that she would have to explain further. "It's my constant reminder of the final battle. Just in case I ever try to forget."

"Why have I never seen it before, Mione? I mean, how have I never noticed it?" Ron seemed genuinely confused, and couldn't seem to take his eyes off the blemish on Hernione's collarbone.

Hermione sighed and took Ron's hand. She led him through to the living room and gently pushed him down on to one of the comfy sofas in the room. She sat down next to him and finally managed to cover her chest once again.

"No one has seen it before. I keep it covered, either with my clothes or with a glamour charm. In fact, apart from the healers at the hospital, you are the only person ever to see it."

It took Ron a few seconds to find his voice. "Why? I mean, why do you keep it covered all the time?"

"Because it's ugly, Ron. It's ugly, and disgusting, and no one wants to see it. It's a constant reminder of that night, Ron, and I wish I didn't have to remember it. I want it gone, but there's no way to do it. Dolohov couldn't kill me that night, but he managed to make sure that I would regret facing him for life."

"What do you mean? You survived in a battle with one of the darkest wizards of our time. How can a scar make you feel like you failed?"

"Because I feel like I failed. I don't know why! I guess it's because for the rest of my life, I have to hide something from everyone, because I can never show them this."

Ron's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "But why not? Why can't you show them?"

Hermione's eyes flashed with anger. "Because it's ugly! It makes me ugly. Why would people ever want to see it? Why would anyone ever want to see my constant reminder of the worse night of my life? Plus, I can never show a man. I mean, would you want to be with someone if they had this across their body?"

Hermione opened her robe open to show Ron her full scar and waited for his reaction. She had never felt so angry and so ashamed at the same time. She couldn't bear to look at Ron as he took in the full extent of the scaring on her body.

Ron on the other hand, was distracted from the scar by the pair of perfect, pert breasts that had come into view as she had revealed her hidden shame. He couldn't really concentrate on anything other than them. "Beautiful," he breathed under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing." Realising his mistake, Ron quickly looked away from Hermione.

Hermione covered herself back up. "No, what did you say?"

"It was nothing, honestly. I just think that any man who can concentrate more on that scar than …well the other things I just saw, he's just an idiot."

Hermione's face went bright red as she realised just how much of herself she had revealed. "You pervert! You shouldn't have been looking at that! I wanted you to look at my scar."

"Well that's my point, Mione, I couldn't. Not when you had everything on show. Most men would see the same as me." Ron took a deep breath before continuing. "You're beautiful Hermione, inside and out."

Hermione looked away from him, suddenly becoming very interested in the pattern on the carpet. "Ron, you don't have to pander to me just because I'm your best friend. We both know that I'm nothing special."

"Nothing special? You are the most special girl, no, _woman_ that I know." Ron gently grasped her chin to force her to look him in the eye. "You're strong, kind, gentle, the most intelligent person I know, and the most beautiful person I've ever set eyes on."

"You don't have to-"

"Yes, I do. You have to know just how amazing you are. And you are incredible. And I should have told you this before now. And I…I, oh, bloody hell."

"Ron, don't swear-"

Hermione didn't have a chance to finish admonishing Ron for his language, as his hand slipped into her hair and he pulled her toward him. She had no time to react as his lips came crashing down on her own. He kissed her fiercely, demanding entry to her mouth. Hermione could do nothing but give in. She had dreamed of this moment for as long as she could remember. She knew that she wanted this as much as it appeared that he did.

Ron couldn't believe that Hermione was responding the way she was. He had no idea that kissing her would feel like this. It was like the itch he had had for years now was finally being scratched. He reluctantly pulled away from her, resting his forehead on her own. "I've wanted to do that for so long. I think, no, I _know_ I love you. I have for as long as I can remember. I've missed you so much since the war ended. I've missed spending all my time with you, seeing you every day."

"I love you too," Hermione whispered, her eyes still closed from the kiss. "I think I always have."

With these words Ron moved his mouth back over Hermione's waiting lips. She fell back, stretching across the sofa, pulling Ron down on top of her. The kiss was all that mattered, all their attention on the other. They stayed that way for quite sometime.

&&&&&&&&&&

Around an hour later Harry looked up from his Firewhisky as he heard his girlfriend scream and throw herself at her best friend. Looking behind Ginny and Hermione's embrace, he saw the familiar red head of his best mate.

After kissing his sister on the head and touching Hermione's hand, Ron made his way over to Harry.

"Where the hell have you been, mate?" Harry asked Ron as he ordered a drink for them both. "We've been here for ages now."

"Sorry. Hermione and I were distracted."

"Really? With what?" Harry smirked.

"Something that was a long time coming," Ron replied, smiling at Hermione as his eyes met hers.

AN. Many thanks to my beta Allybee for all of her help getting this story up to scratch. Please review, it makes me happy!


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